United States or Canada ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
The Ordeal has done that for many millennia, though it changed when Lord Sepol was called to the Circle. "If the war is to be ended with honor, it must be done by someone who has high status on both sides. As a Ranger, you already have that in the Empire; once you pass the Ordeal, you will also be able to negotiate a peace agreement as a Cor'naya." Tarlac frowned.
Channath's sharp "Now!" as she and the human doctor moved toward the Ranger freed Hovan to kneel beside Steve and raise the man's head. "You made it, Cor'naya," he said quietly, with pride. "You succeeded, as I was sure you would." Tarlac forced unwilling eyes open, looking up into the familiar gray face he'd learned to respect, then to love. "I really made it?" he asked in a whisper.
The uniform was spotless, the badge and leather items polished to a high gloss, the gun fully charged. His ruhar would go before the Lords as a Cor'naya of Ch'kara should. He picked up the body again and returned to the foot of the altar dais. The Supreme, the First Speaker, and Dr. Jason were no longer on the newly-cleaned dais.
It wasn't long before one of Ch'kara's cream-and-green cars, also headed for town, dropped to hover at shoulder level beside him. The driver, whose name he couldn't remember, opened a window and stuck his head out. "Steve, ruhar!" "Yeah, I made it!" "I will call ahead. Cor'naya Hovan said to expect you." Tarlac hadn't known the vehicles were equipped with comsets, but it wasn't too surprising.
"If you hesitate to reveal it to your sponsor, you probably should not. You are trying to become Cor'naya, however; you must decide what honor demands of you." "Oh, hell." Tarlac didn't know what to think. He couldn't seem to feel any real emotion, only a sort of resigned fatigue. "Last night I was Kranath, when he was forced to Godhome. And for a little bit I was Godhome itself.
Kranath considered himself rather ordinary for a Cor'naya, and would have been surprised to learn that Godhome's opinion was far different: his generation was a key one by the reckoning of those who went before, and he was one of several exceptional males who had been born as predicted, then subtly guided by Godhome into developing their full potential without losing the essential values of the Traiti race and culture.
Yarra returned his greeting, then said, "We have a new ruesten, Cor'naya?" "Yes, Ka'ruchaya. Esteban Tarlac, called Steve." Hovan gave her a brief yet complete account of everything that had happened since Steve had come aboard, finishing, "He has much to learn, Ka'ruchaya, and he may make mistakes, but he is true Ch'kara. He will not dishonor the clan."
"Cor'naya Hovan, since Ranger Tarlac's mother is not present, you are his closest available kin. We must ask if you wish to make funeral arrangements yourself, or if you prefer Us to make them." "The Lords have already accepted him, Sire. He should have the human ceremony, whatever his rank deserves, and I do not know that." "Very well, We will see to it.
But I may ask, as Speaker: does it require speed of you for another reason?" Tarlac took time to think out his answer. "You might say it does, indirectly. I have to tell you all something I found out from the Vision, and what it means. It'll be easier for you to hear it from a Cor'naya, Hovan says. Humans would believe a Ranger, but you don't have that kind of trust in me yet."
"No, Cor'naya Joste. Under the circumstances, I do not think adoption either possible or necessary; he cannot take the blood-oath if he cannot understand it. He is a Terran, and apparently newborn by their ways, regarding you as chaya. I accept him as es'ruesten, a clan-son of N'chark by birth.
Word Of The Day